


A Moment's Here for Us to Share

by mcgarrygirl78



Series: Feels Like Heaven [31]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Drama, Episode: s17e21Assaulting Reality, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-07 23:01:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6828655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Give it to me, Tucker.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Moment's Here for Us to Share

“I'm sorry.” Liv sighed.

“You're apologizing again.”

“I know.” She shook her head. “I do that sometimes and it’s just…just let it go. I'm talking to myself more than you.”

“It’s OK, baby.”

“If it’s OK then why are you bringing it up?”

Ed looked at her face and she almost had a smile. He'd planned for a lot more than an almost smile tonight. Work dashed their plans, though that wasn’t the first time and surely wouldn’t be the last. Still, they were together and as cheesy as it sounded that really was the most important part. There would be time for romance. Ed wasn’t sure when but the hamster wheel was spinning in his mind.

“I meant that it was OK that our plan didn’t work out. Sometimes work sucks. We deal with the shit storms when they come.”

“It’s not OK.” Liv put her arms around his neck.

They were sitting on her couch. Ed was still dressed like he was going to interrogate the fuck out of someone but Liv slipped into something more comfortable as soon as they got to her apartment. Gray yoga pants and an oversized knit shirt with three-quarter sleeves fit her mood more than the works clothes had. Her anger had nearly boiled over earlier; the Princes blindsided them like a semi. They made the NYPD look bad and SVU look inept. 

All that time they were pretending to work with them, which Liv and Barba were both suspicious of, and now this. They were pushing Lizzie Bauer and whoever else they could under the bus to save their reality show empire. She'd spent the past hour just waiting for any phone to ring; waiting for Dodds to tell her to shut it all down. That call hadn’t come. Liv wished she could've swallowed down the guilt that it hadn’t with a glass of wine but she wasn’t drinking tonight. Well she was having a beer but since enjoy wasn’t a term she would use for her relationship with beer it didn’t count. 

“You're beautiful.” Ed gave her Eskimo kisses.

“Don’t distract me.”

“From what?”

“I don't know, probably apologizing again. Neither one of us needs that. But your plan was so romantic. I wanted dinner, I wanted candlelight, and I wanted those really awesome bath bombs.”

“We can still run a bath. We can finish the strawberries from the other night and dance in our robes to Marc Cohn songs. There's some might left to salvage.”

“Thanks for sticking around.” Liv said.

“My other girlfriend must be working the late shift.” He replied kissing her. “She didn’t answer my call.”

“You're not funny.” She stroked her hand through his hair.

“I'm a little bit funny. Actually, according to Noah I'm a laugh riot.”

“He's a toddler.”

“He's a smart toddler.” Ed said smiling. “You did a good job today, baby. Can I ask for you to let it go now? Because you were doing that before this Heart’s Desire thing and believe me, I get that this was a punch to the gut, but there’s not a lot you can do before talking to Melanie in the morning. If I'm asking too much let me know; I’ll understand.”

“I want to. You know, I'm just pissed.”

“Yeah.” He nodded. “I got that much. You’ve got every right to be. They create these situations for ratings and real people get hurt. They're no better than the pieces of shit you drag off the street every day.”

“Except they can get expensive lawyers and walk away with a slap on the wrist. I used to justify that in my mind, to help me sleep at night, thinking it would be that much harder for the next person to do it. I don’t think that anymore.”

“You wanna know what I think?” Ed asked. He placed the palms of his hands on either side of Olivia, pressed against the arm of the couch.

“Give it to me, Tucker.”

“I think we can have a nice bath, make some popcorn and watch our favorite TV show or DVD, and then sleep soundly. It’s not epic romance but…”

“It’s perfect.” She said. “Cuz I'm with you.”

“And when this case is over and you nail the Princes to the wall, then we’ll celebrate. I’ll take you to the Manhattan Supper Club and I might even dance.”

“You're bluffing.”

“I'm not.” He grinned. “I will absolutely dance with my baby, after she puts her foot in reality TV’s ass.”

Liv laughed, kissing him and pulling him into a hug. Ed couldn’t have been pleased to have his plans ruined like they were tonight but he helped her relax on a night she should've been doing anything but. Because there wasn’t a lot she could do tonight. In the morning her squad would be in both damage control and kick ass mode. Tonight, all they could do was be angry and go back to other cases or go home. Liv chose the latter. Who wouldn’t, with such a wonderful man to go home with?

“I love you, Livvie.”

“I love you too. And we’re totally having hot sex in the tub.” She kissed his shoulder.

“Yeah we are. I’ll run the water.”

“And I’ll get naked.”

Ed smiled and kissed her once more before getting up from the couch. When he was out of the room, Liv sighed and leaned her head back. She had been ready for tonight, for some alone time and some romance. It had been a while. Not that things were boring and routine, but they were routine. 

That’s what happened when two workaholics were in a relationship. Not to mention that caring for Noah was another full time job. Romance had to be scheduled. And it was scheduled for tonight dammit. Strangers took that away from her and that was probably the one thing Liv hated the most about the job. 

She could compartmentalize with the best of them, it was probably how she survived as long as she had. But when her integrity, the integrity of her squad, was being called into question on national television, it was easy to deflate the wind in her sails. And here was Ed going with the flow. The romance was for him too and it had been canceled. But he didn’t bitch and moan. 

He took them home, stopping for pizza along the way. He sat on the couch and put his arm around her while she grumbled. He massaged her shoulders and found a way to make her smile. And now he was drawing her a bath. She wanted to find a way to repay him, even if he probably wouldn’t like the idea too much. 

But if it was one thing Liv wanted it was for this relationship to remain mutually beneficial. She wanted to cater just as much as she was catered to. Not because that’s how it should be but because she wanted to. She loved bringing Ed breakfast in bed or singing along to a song he loved so much or taking evening walks with Noah and the dog. They were happy together and even though the job meant they didn’t get to spend a ton of personal time together, the moments they did were really good.

Liv got up from the couch and went into the bedroom. Ed was down to his boxers and she could see him in the bathroom. It was about to be some major action in that bathtub. She smiled just thinking about it. After the past couple of days that she had, it would be just what the doctor ordered. Tomorrow was tomorrow, and all that came with it. Tonight, it was time to focus on each other. The plans were altered but Ed and Olivia had always been good at winging it.

***


End file.
